What Companies Should Know About Using PPC Ads as Part of an Internet Marketing Campaign
PPC or pay-per-click ads are used by many businesses today as part of their Internet marketing campaign. PPC advertising is simple, businesses can have a lot of control over their ad campaign and they also receive a lot of information about each ad's performance, which allows for improvements. If you business hasn't explored your PPC options yet, you're missing out on a lot of opportunities to reach potential customers online.
It's very important to understand PPC Internet marketing campaigns before you begin using them. You also must have a strategy to optimize their performance. Although they seem simple enough, it's easy to waste a lot of money on PPC ads if you do not properly understand them. If you use PPC ads correctly, you can reach thousands of potential customers quickly and generate more sales leads than ever before. However the downside of PPC advertising is the price. Some PPC ads can be $5.00, $10.00 or even $20.00 per click, which means you can end up going through your budget more quickly than you wanted. The major PPC advertising programs are offered by Google, Bing/Microsoft and Facebook. Getting to know what each of these programs offer can help you figure out which ones to advertise with.
Google AdWords:
Google AdWords is the largest PPC advertising program. Using Adwords, you can create and run ads for your business quickly and easily. You can run ads on Google Search and Content networks. Adwords are displayed along the search results when someone searches Google using one of the keywords you have chosen for your ad.
The keywords are worth different amounts of money, based on their popularity. More popular keywords are more money. Keywords can be anywhere from $.05 to $20.00 each time someone clicks on your ad. The price of the ad is also based on where you want that ad to appear. If you want your ad to appear in the first position on the first search results page, it will be more expensive than the fourth or fifth position, which will still appear on the first search results page. The higher the position, the more money it will cost.
PPC ads appear under "Sponsored Links" in the side column of the search results page and along the top of the page. The best part of Adwords is that you are always advertising to an audience that is already interested in your business, because they searched for a keyword that relates to it. There are a variety of ad formats to choose from when using Adwords. You can customize the text, include and image, or use a video ad. Another important aspect of AdWords is that you can track your individual ad's performance by looking at the provided reports when you sign into your account. That way, if you see that a particular ad is not getting any clicks, you can take it off and concentrate on other ads that are getting more action. There's no minimum monthly charge for Adwords, you can set your budget and when your budget runs out, your ads simply don't show up anymore. This keeps you safe from paying more than you wanted for your ad campaign.
Microsoft adCenter (Bing):
Microsoft adCenter works much like Google AdWords. The ads show up alongside Bing's search results on the right side and above the search results. You determine your base bid, which is the maximum amount you're willing to pay when someone clicks your ad. You will never be charged more than your base bid. You can also establish your own monthly budget.
There are many tools that Microsoft adCenter includes to help make managing your PPC ads easy. Using the Microsoft Advertising Intelligence tool, you can research keywords, find out their prices and find which keywords are performing the best and worst. The Atlas Search tool allows you to manage your PPC bids and listings in the top-tier search engines and shopping portal sites. Everything is done on the adCenter desktop. This is an easy-to-use desktop application that allows you to create campaigns easily, get performance alerts and research new keywords. AdCenter also makes it easy for you to import your PPC ads from Google AdWords so they can show up on Bing.
Facebook Advertising:
Facebook ads are the newest online advertising strategy that businesses have been using as part of their online marketing campaign. With a Facebook ad you have the potential to reach over 400 million active Facebook users, depending on your industry and the key phrases used. You can also attach social actions to your ads to increase their relevance and create a demand for your product using relevant ads. A Facebook ad can be image or text based. The ads appear on the sides of the Facebook page.
Businesses have many options with Facebook Advertising and can start at just one dollar a day. Business owners can advertise their company's actual Web site, a product, service, the company's Facebook Fan Page or an event page. Advertisers can choose to either pay per click or impression, which is pay-per-view. You choose the maximum amount you are willing to spend; there is a suggested bid range that shows you what other advertisers are currently bidding to reach your target audience. You can also schedule your ad to run continuously starting the day you create it or specify certain dates when you want the ad or ads to appear. Another unique feature of Facebook advertising is a company can target a specific audience with demographic filters such as location, age, sex, education, workplace, relationship status, relationship interests, languages and keywords. You can track your ad's progress, gain insight about who is clicking your ad and make modifications to your ads to gain the best results.
More businesses are dedicating more of their budget to Internet marketing campaign than traditional off-line advertising. PPC ads allow companies to pinpoint exactly who they want to advertise to and where their ad is going to appear on the results page. PPC ads ensure that you will be advertising to people who are actively searching for your products or services, which drastically increases your chances of gaining more sales. Once you give them Pay-Per-Click advertising a try you will see they do generate more Web site traffic and increase your sales since they allow targeted advertising to the most appropriate market, rather than advertising to everyone and wasting money on people who have no interest in your company's products or services.